PURPOSE To evaluate the appropriateness of laboratory-test monitoring recommended for patients on chronic medication therapies in the Lebanese community setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS In October 2011, all outpatients visiting selected community pharmacies in Lebanon were screened by pharmacists to evaluate their use of one or more chronic medications requiring safety and/or therapeutic laborat...

PURPOSE To propose an index for assessing adherence to a Middle Eastern version of the Mediterranean diet as represented by the Traditional Lebanese Mediterranean diet (LMD), to evaluate the association between the LMD and selected European Mediterranean diets (EMD), and to examine socio-demographic and lifestyle correlates of adherence to Mediterranean diet (MD) among Lebanese adults. METHOD...

The lack of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), a patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing enzyme that hydrolyzes fatty acids from triacylglycerol (TAG) stored in multiple tissues, causes the autosomal recessive disorder neutral lipid storage disease with myopathy (NLSD-M). In two families of Lebanese and Italian origin presenting with NLSD-M, we identified two new missense mutations in hig...

BACKGROUND Maternal behavior before and after conception affects maternal and child health. Limited awareness of adolescents in preconception health may be addressed through school education. The aim of this intervention is to assess preconception health awareness among adolescents in Lebanese high schools and to test the effectiveness of a one-time educational session in improving preconceptio...

OBJECTIVE The Lebanese Multiple Sclerosis (LeMS) study aims to assess the influence of pregnancy and delivery on the clinical course of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Lebanese women. SETTING This prospective multicentre study took place in three MS referral university medical centres in Lebanon. PARTICIPANTS Included were 29 women over 18 years who had been diagnosed with MS according to the Mc...

INTRODUCTION Waterpipe tobacco smoking is harmful to health however its prevalence estimates remain uncertain. We aimed to systematically review the medical literature on waterpipe tobacco prevalence and trends. METHODS We searched Medline, Embase and ISI Web of Science for 'waterpipe' and its synonyms, without using language or date restrictions. We included any measure of waterpipe tobacco ...

Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias are a group of disabling and excruciating primary headache disorders, consisting of cluster headaches, paroxysmal hemicrania, and short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headaches with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT). The attacks are strictly unilateral, presenting predominantly in the orbital, peri-orbital, and temporal regions, although pain may radi...